Kisah Para Bocah Penggali Emas di Afrika

Bocah kurus berkulit legam dan tanpa baju itu mengayak mangkuk berisikan air keruh kecoklatan. Harapannya hanya satu, mendapatkan emas, tidak peduli kandungan merkuri di dalam air sedikit-demi-sedikit menggerogoti tubuhnya yang mungil dari dalam.

Sementara itu, bocah belasan tahun lainnya, memasuki lubang kecil di tanah. Mengeruk dasar sebisanya, membawanya ke permukaan dan memberikannya ke bocah lainnya untuk diayak. Gambaran yang menyedihkan, tapi inilah kenyatan hidup yang dialami oleh ratusan anak kecil di Afrika, khususnya di Senegal.

Seorang pengusaha perhiasan asal Inggris, Deirdre Bounds, menceritakan bahwa sebagian emas di Inggris dihasilkan secara ilegal dari tangan anak-anak ini. Bounds mengaku dia tidak akan membeli emas yang dijual oleh para pengusaha yang mempekerjakan anak-anak itu.

"Saya tidak percaya apa yang saya lihat. Anak-anak ini menghabiskan waktunya dari pagi hingga malam di lubang yang kecil dan berbahaya, hanya untuk mencari butiran emas," ujar Bounds dikutip dari laman Daily Mail.

"Mereka terpapar merkuri, yang sangat beracun. Mereka memegangnya dengan tangan kosong," lanjutnya lagi.

Bounds mengatakan bahwa anak-anak ini tidak bersekolah. Di pertambangan, sanitasi dan kebersihan lingkungan juga sangat buruk. Bukan hanya anak-anak, di tempat ini juga terlihat ibu-ibu turut mencari emas sambil menggendong bayi-bayi mereka. Padahal, merkuri yang dihirup atau terkena kulit dapat menyebabkan penyakit paru-paru ataupun gagal ginjal pada bayi mereka.

Seorang penambang, Djimba Sidibe, 14, mengatakan dia telah menghabiskan seluruh hidupnya mencari emas. Dia sadar bahwa apa yang dia lakukan berbahaya, namun apa daya, perut yang kosong harus diisi.

"Ketika di tambang, saya turun ke dalam lubang dan mulai menggali tanah. Di bawah sana sangat panas dan memecahkan batu sangat sulit. Tembok lubang sangat rapuh, jika sampai runtuh maka kamu terkubur," ujar Sidibe.

Menurut program survey National Geographic, The Real Price of Gold, sebanyak 90 persen penambang emas adalah pekerja di pertambangan ilegal di seluruh dunia. Terbanyak adalah di Afrika dan Amerika Selatan. Sebanyak 10 sampai 30 persen perhiasan emas di seluruh dunia dilaporkan berasal dari galian tangan para anak-anak ini.

Bounds mengatakan bahwa terdapat undang-undang asal usul bagi pertambangan berlian yang disebut dengan nama 'Kimberley Process'. Hal ini untuk memastikan berlian tidak diperoleh dengan cara ilegal,
seperti mempekerjakan anak-anak ataupun kerja paksa. Berlian ilegal ini disebut sebagai berlian darah (blood diamond). Namun, untuk pertambangan emas, undang-undang asal usul semacam itu masih belum dikeluarkan.

Untuk itu, Bounds menyerukan kepada para penjual emas di seluruh Inggris untuk memastikan sumber emas-emas mereka. Berdasarkan penelitiannya, kebanyakan perusahaan perhiasan di Inggris berbohong
mengenai sumber emas mereka.

Bounds mengusulkan agar para pengusaha perhiasan melakukan daur ulang emas ketimbang terus membelinya dari penambang. "Jika kita mulai melakukan ini, maka industri ini akan lebih tertib," ujarnya.

Mungkin juga sudah waktunya bagi kita untuk melakukan hal yang sama. Pertanyakan asal-usul emas yang kita beli. Siapa tahu, cincin emas yang kita pakai dihasilkan dari darah seorang anak Afrika.


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The Horrors of Afghanistan

This part of Afghanistan will definitely freak the hell out of any normal person. It’s dirty, smelly and disgusting. There, no one will care of you and your life will cost nothing. Chaos, disorder and impunity – these words have never been that descriptive…

Approaching Kabul.

In the airport, there are a lot of military equipment and aircraft. Almost all helicopters are Russian.

An absolutely empty arrival hall – no taxi cars, no greeters. Nobody is allowed to enter the airport. It’s buses which take the passengers out of it.

In nearby shops, you can buy a local sim card with the GPRS Internet connection and even an iPhone.

The first impression of Kabul is that it’s either a big jail or a fortress. There are huge concrete fences with barbed wires along its streets. Weapon emplacements, sandbags and soldiers are everywhere. A lot of people with guns, all in different uniforms. The second impression can be described with only one word - dirt. It’s VERY dirty in Kabul.

The Kabul River flows through the city. This is the main city gutter. People throw garbage into the river. The water is not just muddy, it is absolutely black as ink. It smells really disgusting, but you quickly get used to it as well as to a great number of flies…

… heaps of crap and rotting under your feet garbage.

The embankment of the Kabul River. When this picture was being taken, the photographer thought that these people were probably praying as it was just the time for the evening prayer. But as it turned out later, they were just crapping…

The Kabul is a tributary of the Indus. Its length is 460 km.

The city itself looks something like this.

A street hairdressers.

The old city is almost completely destroyed by long-term wars, though somewhere you still can see the traces of ancient buildings.

Kabul is a big market. The traffic on the streets is rather dense. There are no traffic lights, no one follows the rules, chaos reigns on the roads.

A bird market.

A very nice restaurant with samovars.

At first glance, it may seem that this is just a dirty eatery, but in fact, it’s a decent cafe.

Its owner often asks the visitors to leave a few lines in a book of reviews.

The local bird market is very vivid and colorful.

Here you can meet some interesting and beautiful people.

Parrots and pigeons are the most common goods here.

Chicken is cut right in front of the client.

Not to attract attention one can buy a local suit here.

This is not a dump but the place where waste is sorted. Plastic, paper and metal are put into separate packages. Plastic bottles are sold to Pakistan for processing. 7 kg of bottles cost 30 cents.

Sorters live with their families right here, on the heaps of garbage.

A horse costs from 700 to 2000 dollars.

Kabul is also “famous” for a great number of drug addicts. They gather under bridges, on dumps and in destroyed by war buildings. Heroin is used right on the streets and no one gives a damn about these people. 5% of the population of Afghanistan uses hard drugs. The picture depicts one of their favorite places. Over the last 10 years the number of addicts in Afghanistan has increased greatly…

A drug addict prepares a dose. Here drugs are mainly used by Hazaras, the descendants of Genghis Khan. Shiites, they go to work to Iran where earn relatively good money.

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